Over 30 peacekeepers deployed in a NATO-led mission in Kosovo were injured Monday in clashes with Serb protesters who demanded the removal of recently elected ethnic Albanian mayors, as tensions flare in the Balkan nation. NATO'S Kosovo Force (KFOR) said it had faced "unprovoked attacks" while countering a hostile crowd after demonstrators clashed with police and tried to force their way into a government building in the northern town of Zvecan. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said 52 Serbs were hurt, three seriously, while one was "wounded with two gunshots by (ethnic) Albanian special forces".

Hungary's defence minister said on Facebook that "more than 20 Hungarian soldiers" were among the wounded, with seven in serious but stable condition. Italy's foreign minister said three of its soldiers were seriously wounded, and the country's prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, joined NATO in calling for "all parties to take a step back to lower tensions". Kosovo's Serbs boycotted last month's elections in northern towns, which allowed ethnic Albanians to take control of local councils despite a minuscule turnout of under 3.5 percent of voters.

Kosovan Prime Minister Albin Kurti's government officially installed the mayors last week, defying calls to ease the tensions by the European Union and the United States, which have both championed the territory's 2008 independence from Serbia. Many Serbs are demanding the withdrawal of Kosovo police forces -- whose presence in northern Kosovo has long sparked resistance -- as well as the ethnic Albanian mayors they do not consider their true representatives.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP